Patriots WR Deion Branch says of the few classless Jets: "I would never shake their hands" ... and links!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 -- Anonymous (not verified)

Patriots receiver Deion Branch caught some criticism for his comments after the loss to the Jets, saying he thought a select few of them were classless. He was asked for his thoughts, he didn't believe some of them acted right, and he said so.

Now, a few days later, Branch clarified his remarks in an interview with KJR Radio in Seattle (via SportsRadioInterviews.com). He just didn't take back what he said.

"The thing was, it was a (reporter) asking me a question about ‘Was it embarrassing losing the game or was it losing to the Jets?’ " Branch said. "My answer was ‘No, losing the game itself. It didn’t make a difference who we had played in the playoffs, the fact is we lost the game. The only thing that was embarrassing was some of the cracks those players on the football field was their antics after the game.’ I said, ‘Some of them. Not all because there is a great handful of guys on the Jets team that has a lot of class, and there is a couple of them that don’t and the ones, they know who I am talking to. I don’t have to say their names and I won’t.’ "

The host asked Branch if he would name them, and Branch said he wouldn't. But the dudes he was ripping are well aware of who he means. So, there's that.

"A guy asked me ‘Would you shake their hand?’ " Branch continued. "I told him that I would never shake their hands. I would congratulate the ones who deserve the respect and congratulations from me and my teammates but I would never congratulate the classless guys on the football team. Sometimes when you go into a game and you play, they did a great job, they won the game, congratulations to the ones that deserved it, but for the ones that don’t deserve it I would never shake their hands, never congratulate them, and that was all that was said."

Branch then ripped some Jets for not having a full understanding of where they were or how they got there.

"There is a handful of guys that are very classy," he said. "Sometimes when you are not supposed to be in certain situations you act that way and that is how some of those guys are. They aren’t used to being in that position, and this was their Super Bowl. But it wasn’t our Super Bowl. This was probably their Super Bowl and that is probably why they were acting that way. So, who knows? I don’t know.”

Want more from Branch? Check out the coverage in today's Boston Herald:

-- Columnist Ron Borges says that it wasn't Bill Belichick's coaching that led to the loss to the Jets, but rather an overall lack of talent.

-- Colleague Karen Guregian looks at the offseason with the offense in mind, making some predictions about what the offense will look like.

-- This is my main story, with the players' futures mostly completely uncertain because of the lack of a CBA.

-- My notebook leads with whether Belichick will name coordinators for this year, along with some other tidbits.

-- Dan Duggan has this sidebar on Branch, who uses Jet fuel for the 2011 offseason and beyond.

-- And finally, this is a quick little Jets story on how Jets CB Darrelle Revis is heading toward a homecoming in Pittsburgh.